Published in Sedimentary Geology 127: 209-220, 1999
Drowning of algal mounds: records from the Upper Carboniferous
Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone, Carnic Alps, Austria
Elias Samankassou *
Institut für Paläontologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstraße 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Received 21 August 1998; accepted 19 March 1999
Abstract
Anthracoporella algal mounds, up to 22 m thick, occur within the cyclic sequences of the Lower Pseudoschwagerina
Limestone (uppermost Carboniferous), Carnic Alps (Austria). Their depositional environment lay between the wave base
and the base of the photic zone. The algal mounds are overlain by dark, well-bedded, cherty wackestones and packstones.
The cherty limestones contain cephalopods, thick-shelled brachiopods, and sponge spicules and lack Anthracoporella
in growth position. They are typical deeper-water sediments, deposited below the photic zone. This sequence records
drowning episodes; the shallow-water algal mounds were drowned by relative rise of sea level as sea-bottom production
shut down below the photic zone. The sedimentological and paleontological evidence of drowning are supported by
geochemical data of two measured sections. The mean sulfur content of the well-oxygenated algal limestones is 0.02%
for both sections; the TOC values are 0.17% for the section AI and 0.10% for the section AR. The S contents of the
cherty limestones are approximately twice as high with values of 0.48 and 0.05% for the respective sections. TOC values
of the cherty limestones are also significantly higher, with 0.30 and 0.51% contents for the respective sections. The
cherty limestones document the termination of the mounds and the demise of reef-building algae in each cycle. This
interval is therefore termed ‘shroud facies’. The rapid sea-level rise reported is a further proof for high-magnitude sea-level
fluctuations in intervals of glacio-eustasy. The documented drowning mode is novel through the definable interval of
drowning, the repeated events during a short time interval, the full record of pre-, syn-, and post-drowning deposits, and
the unequivocal attribution to glacio-eustatic sea-level rise. This mode seems to be characteristic of an icehouse period and
clearly differs from the drowning mode in greenhouse periods which is often gradual, lacks an unequivocal cause, and is
often preceded by subaerial exposure.
Keywords: drowning; shroud facies; glacio-eustasy; cyclothems; sea level; Upper Carboniferous; Carnic Alps; Austria
1. Introduction
1974; Matthews et al., 1974; Poty, 1980; Kendall
and Schlager, 1981; Schlager, 1981, 1989; Hurst et
al., 1985; Schlager and Camber, 1986; Dominguez
et al., 1988; Bosellini, 1989; Meyer, 1989; Bice and
Stewart, 1990; Erlich et al., 1990; Lavoie, 1992;
Santantonio, 1994; Blanchon and Shaw, 1995; Steinhauff and Walker, 1995; Szulczewski et al., 1996;
Enos et al., 1998; cf. overview of fossil examples
Over the last decades, the drowning of carbonate platforms and reefs has received a lot of attention in the literature (Bernoulli and Jenkyns,
Ł Tel.: C49 9131 8524849; Fax: C49 9131 8522690; E-mail:
[email protected]
1
in table 1 of Schlager, 1981 and a recent review by
Schlager, 1998). Cretaceous platforms have received
particular scrutiny (Grötsch and Flügel, 1992; cf. papers in Simo et al., 1993; ODP Sites 875 and 876,
papers by Camoin et al., 1995 and Enos et al., 1995;
Wilson et al., 1998). Further examples of drowning
are documented from the Quaternary, unequivocally
related to high-frequency and high-magnitude sealevel changes typical of this glacial interval (e.g.
Blanchon and Shaw, 1995).
Due to the wide extent of platforms (up to many
km), the diversity of factors causing drowning, and=
or slow rates of sea-level fluctuations, it is generally difficult to identify the precise drowning episode
(Schlager, 1981, 1999; Erlich et al., 1990). Particularly, the gradual transition from shallow- to
deeper-water facies, and subaerial exposure of some
platforms prior to their final drowning (Schlager,
1989; Erlich et al., 1990; Camoin et al., 1995) often
obscures or masks drowning episodes. These effects
seem pronounced in greenhouse periods.
Upper Paleozoic cyclic sediments, recognized
worldwide, have been deposited during high-frequency sea-level oscillations. They are characterized
by parallel changes in facies and biotic composition (cf. examples from Midcontinent in Heckel,
1994; from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in
Beauchamp et al., 1989; from the Carnic Alps in
Samankassou, 1997a,b). Such cycles offer the opportunity to analyse drowning events, their implications, and to approximate their timing. This paper documents the detailed reconstruction of the
origin, depositional environment, and termination
of Anthracoporella algal mounds within the Lower
Pseudoschwagerina Limestones cyclothems. There,
lithofacies, paleontology, and geochemistry record
drowning of the mounds.
This novel mode of drowning is characterized by a
rapid sea-level rise, a definable interval of drowning
lacking a prior exposure surface, a full record of the
pre-, syn-, and post-drowning facies, and repeated
drowning events during a short time interval.
nic Alps on the present Austrian–Italian border
(Fig. 1), were filled with prodeltaic and shallowmarine sediments during the middle Carboniferous
to Early Permian (Venturini, 1990). These sediments include the Upper Carboniferous to Lower
Permian Auernig Group, the Rattendorf Group, and
the Trogkofel Group (Fig. 2). The Auernig Group
is composed of cyclic deposits (Auernig Rythmus
sensu Kahler, 1955) with quartz-rich conglomerates, cross-bedded sandstones, bioturbated siltstones
with trace and plant fossils, gray shales, and bedded
and mounded limestones (cf. Krainer, 1992). The
Rattendorf Group is subdivided into the Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone, the Grenzland Formation,
and the Upper Pseudoschwagerina Limestone. The
Auernig and Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone
have comparable cyclic deposits, but the four cycles
of the Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone contain more carbonate (Homann, 1969; Samankassou,
1997a). The modal Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone cycle, in ascending order, includes (a) finegrained marine sandstones, (b) bedded limestones,
(c) massive algal limestones, (d) cherty limestones,
and (e) bedded bioclastic limestones. The Trogkofel
Group is composed mainly of massive reef carbonates (Flügel, 1980, 1981).
3. Facies analysis: sedimentological and
paleontological evidence of drowning
3.1. Mound intervals
The mound intervals include two subfacies: (1)
massive limestone, incorporating mounds up to 22
m thick composed of algal boundstone (Samankassou, 1998), and (2) bedded skeletal packstones of
the intermound subfacies that become indistinctly
bedded towards the mound core. The mound subfacies is characterized by an abundance of the dasycladalean alga Anthracoporella spectabilis Pia, 1920.
The large thalli (10 mm and more) are mostly unbroken and in growth position, producing numerous
shelter pores. These branched algae built a delicate
framework, which was partially bound by Tubiphytes
(Fig. 3; Samankassou, 1998). These dasyclads make
up 90% of the total biota. The remaining 10% includes Epimastopora (one other dasyclad), fusulin-
2. Geological setting
Basins formed by Variscan orogenic movements
(late Namur to middle Westphalian) in the Car-
2
Waidegger Höhe
Vienna
Straniger Alm
AUSTRIA
Hochwipfel
Schulter
3
2
Carnic Alps
Rattendorfer Alm
5
Gartnerkofel
Trogkofel
4
1
Treßdorfer Höhe
Triassic
Rattendorf Group
+ Trogkofel Goup
Auernig
Auernig Group
Krone
Roßkofel
Variscan Basement
2 km
Italian-Austrian Border
Fig. 1. Location of the Carnic Alps. Numbers 1–5 indicate study sites.
Trogkofel
Group
Artinskian
Lower
Permian
Sakmarian
Upper Pseudoschwagerina
Limestone
Rattendorf
Group
Asselian
Upper
Carboniferous
Grenzland
Formation
Lower Pseudoschwagerina
Limestone
Gzhelian
Auernig
Group
Kasimovian
Fig. 2. Stratigraphy of the Carnic Alps showing the position of the Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone (dashed).
ids, and small foraminifers (Tuberitina, Endothyra,
Tetrataxis, Calcitornella) (Fig. 3). The relative biodiversity is very low (Samankassou, 1997a). The space
between the plants is filled by lime mud, with small
foraminifers and other organisms, peloids, and early
marine cement (Samankassou, 1998). The abundance
of peloids give the matrix an inhomogeneous texture. The peloids are similar to those described by
Marshall (1983), Macintyre (1985), Chafetz (1986),
Reid (1987), Guo and Riding (1992) and are interpreted as in-situ precipitates rather than infilling
sediment. The well-preserved, delicate algal thalli,
the unbroken branches (lower left of Fig. 3), the unwinnowed matrix with micritic cement and peloids,
the abundance of Tubiphytes suggest deposition below wave base. The abundance of Anthracoporella
3
below wave base. The elevated mounds channelized
bottom currents in the lower relief intermound areas
and led to accumulation of bioclasts (Kraft, 1993).
These higher-energy intermound areas are characterized by packstones. The scarcity of Anthracoporella
(less than 10% of the biota) indicates that either these
limestones were deposited largely below the photic
zone or the current regime restricted algal growth.
The latter seems likely because a deeper-water biota
characteristic of the lithologically distinct overlying
cherty limestones is also lacking.
3.2. Cherty limestones
The limestones overlying the mounds are darkcolored, even-bedded, finely laminated, partly
dolomitized, and contain chert nodules. They cover
the mounds as well as adjacent intermound strata,
without reworked or lag deposits, and are composed
mainly of bioclastic wackestones and packstones
and of spiculitic wackestones (Fig. 4). Nautiloids
(Fig. 5), thick-shelled brachiopods, sponges, sponge
spicules, and trilobites are the most common biota
within these cherty limestones. Benthic biota is very
sparse (<5%). The dark micritic matrix surrounding the bioclasts is homogeneous. Anthracoporella
spectabilis in growth position observed in the underlying mound facies is completely missing. No
early cements occur in this facies, which can be
characteristic of deeper-water environments. They
can be clearly delineated from the mound interval
(Fig. 6). This environment evidently lay below the
photic zone as indicated by the abundance of sponge
spicules along with the inhibited dasycladalean algal (or any other photosynthetic organisms) growth,
the paucity of the benthic biota, and greater abundance of mud, in contrast to the underlying lithologies.
Facies and biotic composition indicate a marked
sea-level rise: algal mounds were developed within
the photic zone, whereas the overlying cherty limestones were deposited below the photic zone. The
rising relative sea level outpaced algal growth and
carbonate production shut down as the sea floor
passed below the photic zone. The fact that the cherty
limestones can be delineated from mound limestones
as well as from the slightly deeper intermound lime-
Fig. 3. Anthracoporella boundstone characteristic of the mound
facies. The dasycladalean algae Anthracoporella Pia 1920 built
a delicate framework (Samankassou, 1998). Small foraminifers
(arrows), fusulinids (F), and Tubiphytes (T) occur within the
cavities between algal thalli. Note the in-situ, intact, and several-mm-large thalli of Anthracoporella.
in growth position indicates deposition within the
photic zone.
The intermound strata are approximately one third
as thick as the mounds. The intermound subfacies,
mostly composed of skeletal packstones, is biotically
more diverse than the mound facies. Foraminifera are
the dominant allochem. Anthracoporella in growth
position and related fabrics are lacking; evidently
algal growth, binding by Tubiphytes, rapid marine
cementation, and the accumulation of lime mud in
framework cavities were limited to the mound core
(Samankassou, 1998). The intermound areas, which
were slightly deeper than the mound facies, also lay
4
Fig. 4. Spiculitic packstone and wackestone (top) characteristic of the dark, cherty limestone covering the algal mounds. Note the
dominant monaxon spicules. ‘Spicules’ possibly include brachiopod spines. These are abundant in the deep-water Leonardian Bone
Springs Limestone in the Guadalupe Mountains (Newell et al., 1953).
stones indicates a rapid rather than gradual sea-level
rise. Further criteria against a long-term break are the
lack retrogradation of mounds, reworking or erosion
at the top of the mounds, and hardgrounds or crusts
at the transition of mounds-to-cherty limestones. A
rapid sea-level rise is consistent with glacio-eustatic
control. The late Paleozoic sea-level rise corresponding to deglaciation intervals was probably rapid and
obviously outpaced carbonate growth potential of
Anthracoporella.
4. Geochemical evidence
Sulfur (S) and total-organic-carbon (TOC) contents of two sections (AI and AR, sites 1 and 5,
5
Table 1
Sulfur and TOC contents of the sections AI and AR (1 and 5 of Fig. 1)
Sample
AI 4 OM
AI 6 OM
AI 7 OM
AI 10 M
AI 11 OM
AI 19c M
AI 19d M
AI 19e M
Sulfur (%)
Total organic carbon (%)
1st meas.
2nd meas.
mean
1st meas.
2nd meas.
mean
0.53
0.72
0.38
0.02
0.33
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.56
0.69
0.40
0.02
0.29
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.54
0.70
0.39
0.02
0.31
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.24
0.33
0.25
0.19
0.40
0.18
0.19
0.13
0.23
0.38
0.26
0.17
0.39
0.18
0.19
0.13
0.23
0.35
0.25
0.19
0.39
0.18
0.19
0.13
Mean values section AI:
cherty limestone
mound facies
AR 1a M
AR 1b M
AR 1c OM
AR 2a M
AR 2b OM
AR 3b M
AR 3c OM
AR 3d OM
AR 3e M
0.03
0.02
0.06
0.04
0.02
0.02
0.05
0.08
0.03
0.48
0.02
0.03
0.02
0.05
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.05
0.07
0.04
Mean values section AR:
cherty limestone
mound facies
0.03
0.02
0.05
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.05
0.07
0.03
0.30
0.17
0.10
0.09
0.58
0.09
0.24
0.09
0.56
0.68
0.16
0.12
0.09
0.58
0.09
0.22
0.07
0.57
0.66
0.15
0.05
0.02
0.11
0.09
0.58
0.09
0.23
0.08
0.56
0.67
0.15
0.51
0.10
M and OM indicate mound facies and cherty limestone (shroud facies), respectively. S values for mound samples are nearly constant by
0.02% for both sections. Mean TOC values for the mound facies are 0.17 for section AI and 0.10% for section AR. S values of cherty
limestone are nearly five times higher for section AI (0.48%) and two times higher for section AR (0.05%). TOC values of samples
originated from cherty limestones are significantly higher with 0.30% for the section AI and 0.51% for section AR. Although the two
sections show minor variation in their respective S contents, differences, particularly in TOC contents, are evident. The standard deviation
is <0.01% for all measurements
respectively, in Fig. 1) which are composed of four
and three cyclothems, respectively, have been measured (Table 1). The S content of algal limestones
ranges from 0.02 to 0.04%, and the TOC values from
0.07 to 0.19%. Most of the S values of the cherty
limestones are an order of magnitude higher than
those of the algal limestones. The S values for the
cherty limestone range from 0.29 to 0.72% for section AI and from 0.02 to 0.08% for section AR. The
TOC values range from 0.22 to 0.68%, five times
higher than those of the mounds. These geochemical data support the depositional conditions deduced
from the facies and paleontological analyses: welloxygenated conditions prevail during the growth of
the algal mounds, whereas the cherty limestones
accumulated under less oxygenated conditions. The
TOC and S contents are generally too low to indicate
truly anoxic environments. Nevertheless, the higher
S and TOC values of the cherty limestones clearly
indicate less oxic conditions typical of fine-grained
sediments (Mitterer and Cunningham, 1985; Morse
and Mackenzie, 1990).
5. Timing and cause of drowning
The Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone, representing one fusulinid zone (Bosbytauella, ex. Occidentoschwagerina alpina Kahler), is composed
of four cyclothems (Homann, 1969; Samankassou,
6
Fig. 5. Nautiloids characteristic of the shroud facies. Most of the found specimens belong to the family Tainoceratidae Hyatt, 1883,
probably species of Tainoceras (B.F. Glenister, written commun., 1994). They did not occur within the mound rocks. This obvious
biotic change from the mound rock to the overlying cherty limestones reinforces the assumption of a fundamental event. Scale bars
1 cm.
1997a). The mean duration of one fusulinid zone
is approximately 1.0 million years (Ross and Ross,
1995), implying a mean duration of 0.25 million
years for each single cyclothem. This value is not
overestimated, considering a duration estimated for
cyclothems from the American Midcontinent: 0.235
to 0.400 million years for major cyclothems (Heckel,
1986, 1994; cf. also Klein, 1994 for discussion). Assuming that cyclothems are time equivalent and that
mounds developed during the transgressive limb of
a cyclothem (assuming that cyclothems are approximately symmetric with respect to time; Samankassou, 1997a), the drowning interval is shorter than
half of one cyclothem, that is <0.125 million years.
Considering the abrupt transition from mound to
the cherty limestone (‘shroud facies’) (Fig. 6), the
actual duration was probably considerably shorter.
This interval (<0.125 million years) is too short for
any event other than those driven by glacio-eustasy
(Soreghan, 1994; Dickinson et al., 1994; Heckel,
1994). Furthermore, the repeated (cyclic) patterns
are inconsistent with a tectonic cause as a major
controlling factor.
6. Summary and interpretation
Sedimentological and paleontological data document two environments: (1) the Anthracoporellamound growth occurred between wave base and
the base of the photic zone; (2) the algal mounds
were drowned by sea-level rise, carbonate production declined below the photic zone, and poorly oxygenated lime mud accumulated. The resulting pattern
is characteristic of drowning episodes (Kendall and
Schlager, 1981; Schlager, 1981, 1998, 1999; Neumann and Macintyre, 1985): algal mounds overlain
by deeper-water limestones. In the initial stages, the
relative sea level rose slowly enough that the algae
could keep up as accommodation space was created and remain in the photic zone. Later, the rate
of sea-level rise became too high and the mound
7
Fig. 6. Picture illustrating the drowning interval (Dr.) of mounds: massive algal limestone (M) is overlain by well-bedded cherty
limestone (shroud facies, SF). The cherty limestones lack Anthracoporella and are typical deeper-water deposits. They record the death
and burial of Anthracoporella mounds and are therefore termed the shroud facies (cf. model Fig. 7).
crests dropped below the photic zone; mounds and
intermounds were drowned (give-up reefs related to
Neumann and Macintyre, 1985). The mud-rich sediments covering the mounds result in death and burial
of Anthracoporella mounds and are therefore termed
the shroud facies (Fig. 7).
The relative sea-level rise was not permanent.
Subsequent relative sea-level fall again brought the
sea bottom within the photic zone. Drowning and
subsequent sea-level fall intervals are recorded in
nearly every cyclothem. The only exception is the
second cycle, which lacks an obvious shroud facies.
This was due to the high paleorelief of the particularly thick mounds in the first cycle (Samankassou,
1997a). The frequent and high-amplitude sea-level
rise events recorded fit well with sea-level change
caused by late Paleozoic glaciation and deglaciation
events on Pangea. This drowning mode differs from
most of the drowning events described from other
time intervals.
This case study presents a drowning event without
prior exposure (Schlager, 1998), at a smaller scale
compared to processes on large platforms discussed
therein. The shroud facies has been used as marker
horizon by previous investigations in the Lower
Pseudoschwagerina Limestone. It has been used e.g.
by Homann (1969) to correlated cyclothems. This
demonstrates how useful the drowning events could
be applied in sequence stratigraphic studies, particularly in fully subtidal deposits as the Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone (cf. Schlager, 1999, for
application of drowning intervals as unique sequence
boundaries in particular cases).
7. Discussion
Alternative factors that could have caused the
reported drowning events are: tectonic subsidence,
nutrient supply, climatic changes, biotic turnover,
and=or changes in salinity.
Rates of tectonic changes are generally an order
of magnitude lower than the documented drowning
events (Samankassou, 1997a; cf. also calculations
8
Lithology
Sea-level
dark, cherty
limestone
}
"Shroud Facies"
Depositional
Environment
Main Biota
cepalopods
brachiopods
below the photic sponge spicules
zone
trilobites
Mean
Mean
S-Cont. (%) TOC-Cont. (%)
AI 0.48
AI 0.30
AR 0.05
AR 0.51
(ca. 25 m)
Dr.
AI 0.02
within the photic Dasycladalean
AR 0.02
zone, below
Anthracoporella
wave base
in growth position
AI 0.17
AR 0.10
Rise
massive limestone
(algal mounds)
Fig. 7. Sequence of mound drowning. Arrow indicates the drowning event. Field relations are illustrated in Fig. 6. Algal limestones can
be differentiated from the shroud facies beds sedimentologically (Fig. 5) and petrographically (Fig. 3 vs. Fig. 4), and geochemically
(Table 1).
by Heckel, 1994, for magnitude of glacio-eustatic
vs. tectonic driven sea-level changes for the American Midcontinent cyclothems, as well as Maynard
and Leeder, 1992). Furthermore, no high-frequency
cyclic tectonic events have ever been reported (cf.
Soreghan, 1994; Heckel, 1994). Tectonic events,
probably the main factor controlling the drowning
of Triassic platforms among others (Bosellini, 1989),
did not play a significant role in the Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone.
Nutrient supply is an important factor in drowning
intervals (Hallock and Schlager, 1986). An excess of
nutrients would be documented as a shift in biotic
composition, from an autotrophic community to a
heterotrophic association (e.g. bryozoans, crinoids)
in the post-drowning rocks (Wood, 1993; Martin,
1996). This is not the case in the cherty limestone
described herein. A nutrient-driven drowning can
therefore be ruled out from the possible factors causing the mound drowning.
Climatic change is an important factor in upper Paleozoic cyclic sediments (West et al., 1997 and
other references therein). A drowning interval caused
principally by climatic fluctuations should be mirrored in differences, among others, in sediment supply and mineralogy. There are no major variations in
terrigenous material contents between mound rocks
and the overlying cherty limestones (Homann, 1969).
This does not support a climatic change controlling
drowning in the present case study.
Further evidence of climatic change or variation
in salinity is also lacking. A cooling causing demise
of green algae is not realistic because of the paucity
of cool-water biota within the shroud facies. Changes
in salinity may affect carbonate production and lead
to drowning, as demonstrated off the southeast coast
of Florida (cf. Neumann and Macintyre, 1985). Both
mound rocks and shroud facies are characterized by
a normal-marine biota. The lithological change is not
linked with a salinity shift, whether increasing or
decreasing. The biotic composition excludes salinity
as a cause for the drowning.
Other factors may be associated in part with
sea-level rise. A glacio-eustatic sea-level rise is
caused by melting processes and linked with climatic changes, changes in oceanographic circulations, oxygenic conditions, and=or nutrient regimes
(R. Henrich and A. Strasser, pers. commun., 1998).
But neither one, nor a combination of these factors,
if not linked with very rapid and high-frequency sealevel rise characteristic of glacio-eustasy, could lead
to the documented drowning.
9
8. Conclusions
Kenter, Brenda Kirkland-George, and Bruce Sellwood improved the final manuscript. Financial support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Fl
42=72 to E. Flügel) is acknowledged.
Dasycladalean reef mounds occurring within the
Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone cyclothems
are overlain by deeper-water limestone. Sedimentological, paleontological and geochemical data document drowning events.
(1) Light-colored, massive limestones accumulated within the photic zone and are directly overlain by dark, cherty limestones, deposited below the
photic zone. This reflects a rapid sea-level rise that
drowned the algal mounds.
(2) Mounds are composed of the dasycladalean
alga Anthracoporella. The overlying cherty limestone includes a typical deeper-water biota of
cephalopods, spinose brachiopods, and sponge
spicules; it lacks Anthracoporella in growth position.
(3) Paleontological and geochemical data are supported by geochemical results. The S contents of
the light-colored algal limestones range from 0.02
to 0.04%. The values for the cherty limestones are
an order of magnitude higher at 0.02–0.76% (mean
values 0.05 and 0.48%, respectively, for sections AR
and AI). The TOC values show comparable patterns: 0.07–0.19% in the mound limestone compared
to 0.23–0.68% in the overlying cherty limestones.
The cherty limestones accumulated under less oxygenated conditions. They mark the termination of the
mounds and the demise of the mound-building algae.
(4) Environmental factors like climate, nutrient
excess and salinity shifts do not represent an alternative to glacio-eustasy that is interpreted as the main
cause of drowning. In addition, repeated patterns
within this short time interval exclude a tectonic
cause for the documented drowning.
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